INTRODUCTION

The Journal of the International Society for Plastination (JISP) was launched in the fall of 1987, under the Editorship of Harmon Bickley. The journal was published continuously once or twice yearly up to Volume 23(1) in 2008. There was then a hiatus in publication until 2012, when the journal was re-launched as volume 24(1) of The Journal of Plastination (JP). The new, more concise name was proposed and adopted at the ISP Business Meeting during the 14^th International Conference on Plastination, Heidelberg, Germany, in July 2008.

Volume 24(1) contained the reports and collected abstracts from the 15^th and 16^th International Conferences on Plastination (in Hawaii and Beijing, respectively), as well as reports and abstracts from the 10th International Interim Conference on Plastination Toledo, Ohio, USA. The history and development of the journal over its first two decades has previously been explored by Adds (2018; 2022).

In 1999, Regis Olry from the Université du Quebec à Trois-Rivières, Canada, published “The Journal of the International Society for Plastination: Assessment and Future Prospects” (Olry, 1999), an analysis of the papers published in the journal during its first twelve years. In carrying out this investigation, Olry excluded Editor's notes, Presidential letters, minutes and abstracts of the Biennial Meetings or international conferences, Editorials, announcements, thesis reviews, exhibition reports, letters to the editor, and short communications. Only full-length papers published in the JISP were included in the study, though Olry did confess that “it was sometimes difficult to acknowledge some articles as full-length publications in some issues”. The aims of the study were to analyze the number of pages, the number of full-length papers and their average number of pages, the number of authors, the number of bibliographical references (and the number of them taken from previous issues of the JISP), and finally, the geographical origin of the authors. As the number of issues published in each yearly volume of the journal varied between one and two (2 issues for vols. 1-2 and 12-13, one issue for all other volumes), the results were expressed as per issue rather than per volume. In the period under examination, 1987-1998 (inclusive), seventeen issues of the JISP were published, and it is on these seventeen issues that Olry’s (1999) study was based.

The aim of the study presented here was to take this analysis forward, and to carry out an analysis of the second seventeen issues. The data from these issues was then compared to the data originally collated by Olry (1999), so that trends and patterns in published articles can be identified. The findings of Olry’s (1999) paper are summarized first. The analysis of the second tranche of papers is then presented.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study assessed the second seventeen issues of the JISP/JP (Vol. 14 (1), 1999 to Vol. 27 (1), 2015), inclusive, a total span of seventeen years. Only original contributions (which Olry (1999) categorized as “full-length papers”) were included in the data analysis: Abstracts from Meetings, Meeting Reports, Letters from the President, Letters from the Editor, Tributes to Past Members of the ISP, and Letters to the Editor were excluded from this study. Therefore, the entire contents of the Special ‘Meetings’ Issue, Volume 24 (1), covering the years 2009-2012, which contained only abstracts and meetings reports, were excluded.

The data analyzed in each issue included: the total number of pages, the number of original contributions, the number of pages in each article, the number of authors, the number of bibliographical references, and the number of which were taken from previous issues of the JISP/JP, and the country/continent of origin of each author.

Basic descriptive statistics were used to analyze the raw data, using Excel® for Microsoft 365. The findings were compared and contrasted with Olry’s (1999) findings.

RESULTS

A brief summary of Olry’s (1999) findings is presented below for ease of comparison with the new data reported here.

Figure 1. Categories of articles published in JISP/JP: comparison between the first and second series of 17 issues

In the first seventeen issues of the journal, the average number of pages/ issue was 39.6 (range 31-49).  However, the font size and formatting changed over time. A total of 114 full-length papers were published in that period. The vast majority of papers (83) were concerned with technical aspects of plastination. There were 11 papers on education, 9 on research into plastination, 7 on research into anatomy or histology, and 4 on the history of anatomy (Fig. 1).

The Editors during that period were: Harmon Bickley, USA (Vols. 1-2), Robert Henry, USA (Vols. 3-7), Dale Ulmer, USA (Vols. 8-11), and Gilles Grondin, Canada (from Vol. 12 onwards). Wayne Lyons, Canada, was assistant editor for Vols. 9-11.

• Average number of full-length publications per issue = 6.7 (range 5-11). Apart from Vol. 10 (1), which had 11 papers, the range of full-length papers was 5-8
• Average length of papers = 4.1 pages (1- 7); N.B. there were changes in font size which will have affected the page length
• Average number of authors per publication = 2.2 (1-4)
• Average number of references = 5.8 (1-13)
• Average number of references taken from previous issues of the Journal = 1.2 (0-4).

Figure 2. Number of publications per continent in each of the first 17 issues of the journal (image from Olry, 1999). Note the internationalization of the articles in the last 6 issues.

Global Representation 1987-1998

The representation of authors for the first 17 issues is shown in Figure 2 and Table 1. The internationalization of the contributors was particularly notable in the last six issues of the series. Contributions were dominated by America and Europe, with 40 submissions from the USA, and 19 from Germany, by some margin the largest contributors.

Evolution of Bibliographical References 1987-1998

Figure 3. Evolution of the bibliographical references cited in the first 17 papers (image from Olry, 1999; average no./publication (black squares), average no. taken from the JISP (black disks)

Figure 3 shows the trends in reference citations for the first 17 issues of the JISP. Citations taken from the JISP are minimal up until the 9^th issue in the series.

Results From the Second Seventeen Issues: Volume 14(1) 1999 – 27(1) 2015

The Editors during this period were:

Gilles Grondin (Canada) 1997-2000 (Vols. 14 - 15), Robert W. Henry (USA) 2001-2008 (Vols. 16 - 23), Ming Zhang (New Zealand) 2009-2012 (Vol. 24), Carlos A. C. Baptista (Interim Editor) (USA) 2013 (Vol. 25), Philip J Adds (UK) 2014 (Vol. 26 onwards).

For Vol. 24, covering the period 2009-2012, the name of the journal changed to The Journal of Plastination (JP).

Papers published during the period were:

• 78 full-length papers
• 13 sets of Abstracts
• 12 Meeting/Interim Meeting reports
• 1 letter to the Editor
• 1 Tribute (to Harmon Bickley)

The majority of the full-length papers (29) were concerned with aspects of research into plastination; there were 25 technical papers, 9 articles on plastination and education, 8 on anatomical/histological research, and seven historical papers (Fig. 1).

Page Numbers and Authors

The average number of pages/issue was 48.9 (range 30-83). The 83-page issue (Volume 22(1), the “plastination cookbook”) was an outlier: the next highest page number was 70.  The average number of full-length publications/issue was 4.6 (range 0-11). Two issues, 24(1) (2012) and 26(1) (2014) were two “special issues” containing only abstracts, and hence contained zero full-length publications. Issue 24(1), published in 2012, also covered the years 2009-2011 during which the journal was not published. The average number of pages/publication was 5.7 (range 2-13). The average number of authors/publication was 3.2 (1-10).  There was a single publication with ten authors: Smodlaka et al. (2005) Surface detail comparison of specimens impregnated using six current plastination regimens, published in volume 20(1). This was a collaboration between authors from the USA, Mexico, and Spain.

Referencing

The average number of references/paper was 13.8 (range 0-55). The figure of 55 was an outlier, from Brown et al. (2002) Effects of dehydration mediums and temperature on total dehydration time and tissue shrinkage, published in Volume 17(1). The next highest number of references was 40. The average number of references from previous issues of the JISP/JP was 5.9 (0-28). The paper with 28 citations from previous issues was another outlier: Smodlaka et al. (2005) Surface detail comparison of specimens impregnated using six current plastination regimens, published in Volume 20(1). The next highest was 19 citations.

Figure 4 shows the average number of references/publication in each issue from 14(1) (2009) – 27(1) (2015), plotted alongside the average number of references from previous issues of the JISP/JP. The graph line appears somewhat skewed, because two issues, Volumes 24(1) (2012) and 26(1) (2014), contained only abstracts, and therefore included no references. If these two outliers are removed, the resulting graph gives a more accurate representation of the trend in referencing (Fig. 5)

Figure 4. Evolution of references over the second 17 issues of the journal

Figure 5. Evolution of references with the outliers removed

Figure 6 shows the combined data for reference citations from Volume 1(1) to Volume 27(1), minus the two outliers. A general increase in both total reference citations and citations from previous issues of the journal is evident up until the 25^th issue in the sequence.

Figure 6. Combined evolution of reference citations from Vol 1(1) to Vol 27(1) (with outliers removed)

Globalization of the Journal

Figure 7 shows the distribution of the continents from which the publications were submitted for the second series of issues (minus the two issues containing only abstracts). It can be seen that the majority of submissions were from America and Europe. The ninth issue in the series, Volume 21(1) (2006), was unusual in that all three of the papers were from Asia: China, Japan, and Iran, respectively. The tenth issue, Volume 22(1) (2007), with an unusually large number of authors, was the “Cookbook”, containing 11 papers with a world-wide distribution of contributors.

Figure 7. Distribution of authors by continent over the second 17 issues of the journal (minus the two abstracts-only issues)

Figure 8. Distribution of authors by country of origin

Figure 8 shows the relative distribution of authors by country. Most authors (36%) were from the USA, followed by Austria (11%), Spain (8%), Canada (6%), and New Zealand (5%). Table 2 shows the contributions by country and continent in the second series of issues compared to the data reported by Olry (1999).

DISCUSSION

The average number of pages/issue (48.9, range 30-83) in the second series of 17 issues represents a considerable increase compared to Olry’s (1999) study (39.6, range 31-49). It should be borne in mind, however, that during this period there were changes in font and format of the journal, which may have impacted the size of each issue.

Although the total page number increased, the average number of full-length publications/issue (4.6, range 0-11) was actually fewer than in Olry’s (1999) study (6.7, range 5-11). Two issues, 24(1) (2012) and 26(1) (2014) were “special issues” containing only abstracts from biennial and interim meetings. A single issue 24(1), published in 2012, and with the new name of The Journal of Plastination, covered the years 2009-2011 during which the journal was not published at all. Thus, in the four years from 2009 until 2012 (inclusive), no original papers were published. Sadly, there was no evidence of a backlog of papers waiting to be published when normal publication resumed in 2013, as Volume 25(1) (2013) contained just five full-length papers. The average number of pages of each full-length publication increased to 5.7 (range 2-13) from the previous average of 4.1 (1-7). This may be attributable to the fact that submissions to earlier issues of the journal concentrated more on techniques and practical aspects of plastination, and hence were shorter, more concise papers (Fig. 1). As the full potential of plastination in research and education began to be realized, so the scope for publications widened, leading to some longer and more detailed submissions. This may also be borne out by the increase in the average number of authors contributing to each publication, which increased to 3.2 (range 1-10), as compared to the previous figure of 2.2 (range 1-4), suggesting wider collaborations.

The average number of references/paper was 13.8 (range 0-55). The figure of 55 was an outlier, from Brown et al. (2002). The next highest number of references was 40. This is a considerable increase on the data presented by Olry (average 5.8, range 1-13). One paper had zero references: it may seem surprising that a full-length paper was accepted for publication with no references, however, this was Olry’s own (1999) analysis of the first 17 issues of the journal, in which no references were cited.

The average number of references from previous issues of the JISP/JP was 5.9 (range 0-28). Again, this is a considerable increase on Olry’s data (1.2, 0-4), and is perhaps not surprising, since when the journal was first published, and throughout its early years, there was no body of published literature on plastination on which to draw. In 2015, when this study ended, a total of 192 full-length papers had been published in the JISP/JP, giving authors an ample body of previous work to cite. Notable among this is the “cookbook”, Volume 22(1) (2007): papers from this issue have been cited multiple times since its publication.

It can be seen that from the first to the 10^th issue, while the average number of total references remained generally stable, with up and down fluctuations, there was a general increase in the number of citations from previous issues of the journal up until the 13^th issue in the sequence, when there was a sharp drop in both parameters, and an apparent downward trend in the number of citations from the JP. The 13^th issue in the sequence volume 25(2), 2013, happened to contain five papers which cited few references, including one (Baptista, 2013) which cited only two references, and two others (Ostrow & Strickler, 2013; Raoof, et al., 2013) which cited five each, hence the dip in the graph line at this point. That this dip is not indicative of a trend can be seen by the recovery in total citations in the last two issues.

If the referencing data from the second seventeen issues (minus the two outliers) are plotted alongside Olry’s data from the first seventeen issues, there is a clear upward trend in the average number of citations taken from previous issues of the journal (Fig. 5). There is also a notable upward trend in the average total number of references cited, with a spike seen in the 22^nd issue in the sequence, Volume 17(1), 2002. This issue contained only four papers, but one in particular by Brown et al. (2002) Effects of dehydration mediums and temperature on total dehydration time and tissue shrinkage, cited 55 references, boosting the average for the issue to 22.75.

The journal has a global reach, and continued to attract submissions from all around the world. Submissions were received from all five continents. However, while America and Europe continued to dominate, there have been some shifts since the previous study was carried out. Contributions from Africa have dropped from nine to just three, and among the European contributors, there were no submissions at all from Germany, compared to 19 in the previous study. Contributions from Oceania have also dropped, from eleven in Olry’s (1999) study to just five in the second series, all coming from New Zealand.

CONCLUSION

The Journal has shown some healthy signs of growth and development in its second 17 issues. However, the average number of papers/issue has dropped from 6.7 to 4.6, which is a worrying trend. In his 1999 study, Olry concluded that the JISP was “establishing its pedigree slowly but surely. This trend… has to be supported by each member of the society” (emphasis added).

Olry also noted that “The number of papers is scarcely sufficient to publish two issues a year”, and this has continued to be the case: in several years the journal was published as a single-issue volume, and we continue to struggle to bring out two issues a year. We can but repeat Olry’s recommendation “Each member of the society should plan at least one manuscript every two or three years (this is a standard for some other international journals). This would lead everyone to take advantage of the experience of his/her colleagues and relieve the stress of the editors.” (Olry, 1999).